Preview – Latest In Collapsible Buttstocks

What’s that saying about buttstocks? Every AR has one. OK, bad joke. But there are plenty of good reasons why this triangular piece of anatomy is so vital to a rifle. The stock serves many important functions, including serving as a key point of contact between the shooter and weapon, helping the shooter maintain accurate aim, counterbalancing the weight of the barrel, and transferring recoil from the rifle’s action to the shooter’s torso.

As the science and art of running an AR-15 evolved over the decades, so too have the construction and design of this popular rifle’s buttstock. When the M16 was adopted by the U.S. military in the early 1960s, it featured a fixed plastic stock. Nowadays, you can find all manner of AR buttstocks — from telescopic and foldable to new polymers and lightweight aluminum. Some have cheek-pieces to provide better cheek welds. Others feature rubber recoil pads.

Because of the growing demand for shorter rifles and the smorgasbord of products available on the market today, we’re going to focus on just collapsible stocks for M4-style weapons for the purposes of this story (and for the sake of space constraints).

Like selecting a spouse, a pair of underwear, or pretty much any firearms-related part, it all comes down to personal preference. Our first suggestion is for you to go out there and handle any and all AR stocks you possibly can so that you’re familiar with what you like and what you want to avoid like the plague.

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